The present invention relates to a new tape cassette, a new cassette holder, and particularly to a technique capable of ensuring, when a tape cassette is inserted in a cassette holder, the positioning of the tape cassette in the insertion direction with improved accuracy.
A known tape cassette is loaded in a tape drive apparatus by inserting the tape cassette in a cassette holder provided on the tape drive apparatus and turning or sliding the cassette holder to finish the loading of the tape cassette to the tape drive apparatus. Such a tape cassette is represented by axcex2 tape cassette, an 8 mm tape cassette, a DAT, a VHS tape cassette, or a DV tape cassette.
A front lid provided on the above-described tape cassette is opened when a cassette holder, in which the tape cassette has been inserted at a specific position, is moved (turned or moved up or down) relative to the tape drive apparatus. Accordingly, the positioning of the tape cassette to the cassette holder is performed in a state in which the front lid is closed.
FIGS. 20 and 21 show one example of an 8 mm tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d having such a front lid.
In the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d, a tape-like recording medium xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d crosses the front end of a mouth portion xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d from side to side, and a front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d covers the front side of the recording medium xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d while a back lid xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d covers the back side of the recording medium xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d (see FIG. 21).
Right and left end portions of the lower edge of the front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d have horizontally-elongated rectangular cutouts xe2x80x9cfxe2x80x9d. Right and left end portions, corresponding to the cutouts xe2x80x9cfxe2x80x9d, of a lower shell xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d have tongue pieces xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d projecting forward. In a closed state of the front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d, the tongue pieces xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d are fitted in the cutouts xe2x80x9cfxe2x80x9d. At this time, the front end surfaces of the tongue pieces xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d are nearly at the same level as that of the surface of the front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d in the horizontal direction (see FIG. 20). The front end surfaces of the tongues xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d are taken as butting portions xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d for performing the positioning of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d to a cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d in the insertion direction (see FIG. 21).
On the other hand, the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d has receiving portions xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d at positions corresponding to those of the butting portions xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d (see FIG. 22). The receiving portion xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d is formed by bending upward each of the right and left end portions of the rear edge of a receiving plate I for supporting the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d from below.
With respect to the front and rear sides of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d, the inlet side on which the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d is initially inserted is taken as the front side, and the depth side is taken as the rear side. To be more specific, the front side of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d enters the front side of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9dand, accordingly, in the state that the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d is inserted in the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d the front/rear side of the tape cassette has an inverse relationship with the front/rear side of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d. The same is true for a tape cassette and a cassette holder that will be described later.
The tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d is inserted in the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d in a lid closed state of the front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d, and then the butting portions xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d are brought into contact with the receiving portions xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d. At this time, the insertion of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d in the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d is ended and simultaneously the positioning of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d to the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d is attained.
In addition, FIGS. 20 and 21 are perspective views of tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d seen from the direction tilted rightward, upward, and FIG. 22 is a perspective view seen from the direction tilted leftward, upward. The tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d is initially inserted in the front portion of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d in the direction shown by an arrow D in FIG. 22.
The cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d is then turned with respect to a tape drive apparatus (not shown), to carry the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d to a specific loading position in the tape drive apparatus. At this time, the front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d and the back lid xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d are opened (see FIG. 21). The cassette loading is thus ended.
The above-described related art tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d, however, has a problem that when the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d is inserted in the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d, the butting portions xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d may ride across the receiving portions xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d. Such a situation makes it impossible not only to perform the positioning of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d to the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d but also to perform the loading of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d in the tape drive apparatus.
The above problem can be solved by enlarging the receiving portions xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d; however, if the receiving portions xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d are enlarged, they may interfere with the front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d at the time of opening the front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d. Accordingly, it is undesirable to enlarge the receiving portions xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d; rather, it is desirable to make the receiving portions xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d as small as possible in order to eliminate the interference of the receiving portions xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d with the front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d.
Enlargement of the butting portions xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d may be considered; however, if the butting portions xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d are enlarged, they may interfere with the extraction of the tape-like recording medium xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d at the time of forming the tape path. Accordingly, the butting portions xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d cannot be enlarged from a practical viewpoint.
Prevention of the front end of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d inserted in the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d (the rear end of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d) from being deviated upward by extending the upper plate of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d toward the rear end portion as much as possiblealso may be considered; however, actually, the upper plate of the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d cannot be extended up to the rear end portion in consideration of the fact that the front lid xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d is turned upward to be opened and a rotary drum (not shown) moves forward in the mouth portion xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d.
For these reasons, according to the related art, the riding of the butting portions of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d across the receiving portions of the cassette holder xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d at the time of insertion of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d in the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d cannot be prevented unless the dimensional accuracy of each of the tape cassette xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and the cassette holder xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d is increased. Further there may occur the above-described accident that cassette loading cannot be performed due to slight dimensional mismatching between the butting portions and the receiving portions.
In particular, such a problem tends to become more serious with the miniaturization of tape cassettes.
An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cassette and a cassette holderthat are capable of ensuring, when the tape cassette is inserted in the cassette holder, the positioning of the tape cassette with an improved accuracy, and loosening the dimensional accuracy of each of the tape cassette and the cassette holder.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tape cassette, which includes a mouth portion provided in a front portion of a cassette shell in such a manner as to be opened forward, upward, and downward, part of a tape-like recording medium being positioned to cross the front end of the mouth portion; and a front lid for covering the front side of the tape-like recording medium, the front lid being opened when the tape cassette is inserted in a cassette holder, and which is loaded in a tape drive apparatus by a manner of inserting the tape cassette in the cassette holder and then moving the cassette holder relative to a chassis of the tape drive apparatus. The tape cassette is characterized by including a plurality of butting portions to be brought into contact with the cassette holder when the tape cassette is inserted in the cassette holder, the butting portions being provided on each of the right and left sides of a front end portion of the cassette shell.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cassette holder for holding a tape cassette inserted therein, which is provided in such a manner as to be movable relative to a chassis of a tape drive apparatus for loading the tape cassette at a specific loading position in the tape drive apparatus. The cassette holder is characterized by including a plurality of receiving portions for receiving the tape cassette in the insertion direction, the plurality of receiving portions being provided on each of the right and left sides of the cassette holder.
With the tape cassette and the cassette holder of the present invention configured as described above, when the tape cassette is inserted in the cassette holder, the front lid is opened, and the positioning of the tape cassette to the cassette holder is performed by contact of the pluralities of butting portions with the pluralities of receiving portions, so that it is possible to prevent the tape cassette from riding across the receiving portions of the cassette holder, and hence to ensure the positioning of the tape cassette to the cassette holder with an improved accuracy. Further, if one of the butting portions fails to be sufficiently brought into contact with the corresponding one of the receiving portions, the positioning of the tape cassette can be attained by the contact of the other butting portions with the other receiving portions. As a result, it is possible to loosen the dimensional accuracy of the butting portions and the receiving portions.
In the tape cassette of the present invention, preferably, the pluralities of butting portions are covered with the front lid in a lid closed state of the front lid. With this configuration, in a state in which the tape cassette is not loaded in the tape drive apparatus, the butting portions are not exposed to the outside of the tape cassette. As a result, since foreign matter does not adhere to the butting portions or the butting portions are not damaged, it is usually possible to perform the positioning of the tape cassette to the cassette holder with a high accuracy, and to ensure a good external appearance of the tape cassette.